Li Wei
As a country with a huge population, China has a total population of more than 1.4 billion.
The process of Chinese path to modernisation not only has the common characteristics of modernisation in various countries, but also has its own distinctive characteristics.
Based on the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ data collected through the “Chinese Social Survey (CSS)”, as well as relevant statistical data from the National Bureau of Statistics and government departments, we may understand the current progress and challenges of China's modernisation construction in the social field from four aspects: social structure, social undertakings, public participation, and social value recognition.
Social Structure.
In recent years, the quality of China's population has improved significantly, and the education level has continued to improve.
In 2022, 19.5% of the total population hold a college degree or above, and the average years of education for the population aged 15 and above is 10.9 years.
However, at present, China's natural population growth rate is -1.48 %, and the total fertility rate is 1.18, which is far below the world average of 2.23.
In 2022, the elderly population aged 65 and above has reached nearly 210 million, accounting for 14.9% of the total population, and China has already entered a deeply ageing society.
The urbanisation rate in China has exceeded the world average level of reaching 66.1%, and the urbanisation rate of permanent population is significantly higher than that of registered residence population, which indicates the contribution of high population mobility to urbanisation.
In the process of industrialisation and marketisation, social stratification has become significant, and the occupational structure has shifted from a "pyramid shaped" to an "olive shaped" one.
The proportion of agricultural workers has decreased significantly, from 64.5% in 2000 to 20.5% in 2020, while the proportion of service and industrial workforce has significantly increased during the same period.
Social undertakings
In the past decade, China's social security system has made significant progress, with a substantial increase in the number of people participating in basic medical care, pension, unemployment, work-related injury, maternity and other social insurance programs.
In particular, the coverage rate of basic medical insurance has remained stable at over 95%, and 90% of the public is satisfied with the overall social security situation.
However, there are still obvious differences in the insurance coverage rates between urban and rural areas, as well as between white-collar and blue-collar occupational groups. In the past decade, the number of students and graduates in various types of schools has significantly increased.
Currently, there are 223 million students in various types of schools, and 11.58 million graduates from ordinary universities in China in 2023. China's education modernisation level has entered the ranks of the world's top middle and high countries.
The young generation’s education level is significantly higher than the average, with the average education year of 13.9 years per person for the age group under 30. In the past decade, the per capita access to medical resources in China has been increasing year by year.
In 2022, there are 1032918 public health institutions nationwide, with 4.4347 million practicing doctors and 9.7499 million beds in medical and health institutions.
The number of practicing (assistant) physicians per 10000 people and the number of beds in the medical structure are 32, and the public satisfaction with medical treatment is relatively high.
In the past decade, China's public service expenditure has continued to grow, rising from 5139.2 billion yuan in 2013 to 10938.8 billion yuan in 2022, with an increase of 112.8%. 86% of the public expressed satisfaction with local government services.
The national internet penetration rate has reached 75.6%, and the age group under 40 has entered the era of "universal access to the internet".
Public participation
There are numerous social organisations in China, with 38.6% of the public participating in various public activities through social organisations.
The younger generation and highly educated population are the main participants of these organisations. The channels of public social participation are diverse.
The young generation is more likely to participate in social governance through internet, and shows very high enthusiasm for discussions related to political and social issues and expressing personal opinions on public policies.
There are clear intergenerational and educational differences in community participation, with the "post-70s", "post-80s" and highly educated groups having higher levels of community participation, while the "post-50s", "post-60s", "post-90s" and "post-00s" groups have relatively lower levels of community participation.
Social value recognition
The level of interpersonal trust among the Chinese public is relatively high, with an overall rating of 78.4 on a percentage scale for institutional trust.
Rural residents have significantly higher levels of trust in institutions than urban residents.
Over 90% of the Chinese public highly identify with the country's political system and national culture, and are proud of their Chinese identity.
The public has a high rating for social equity, with 85.4% of the public believing that the "college entrance examination system" is fair, 82.1% of the public recognising the fairness of "judiciary and law enforcement", and 76.7% of the public recognising their "political rights".
The modernisation process of Chinese society has made significant achievements in multiple fields, but still faces many challenges, such as population ageing, uneven urban-rural development, group differences in social protection levels, and relatively low public participation.
In the future, China needs to further optimise its population policy, promote integrated urban-rural development, further improve the social protection system, enhance public participation, promote social equity and justice, in order to achieve a more comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable modernisation.
IOL